Staff Reporter

Sinn Féin will seek to oust Assembly Speaker Robin Newton with a vote of no confidence, the party’s Park-based national chairperson confirmed on Friday night.

South Antrim MLA Declan Kearney, who lives in the Derry village, confirmed it would table the motion of no confidence over the DUP MLA’s involvement in the Charter NI saga and, morevoer, his much criticised handling of the recall of the Assembly over the RHI scandal just before Christmas.

“The DUP Speaker’s performance in the Assembly on December 19 totally compromised the neutrality of that office,” said Mr Kearney.

“The Speaker is now acting as a law onto himself. That is absolutely unacceptable.

“As Speaker he should be above reproach and independently accountable to the political institutions. However, he is acting without regard to the integrity of the office.

“He is now part of the problem and an integral part of the unfolding crisis and he should resign immediately,” he added.

It’s been an inauspicious tenure for the Assembly speaker since succeeding Mitchel McLaughlin last May.